ROME, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Italy's Ministry of Health reported 491 coronavirus-related deaths on Monday, up from 484 on Sunday. Overall, the country has registered 65,011 fatalities since the start of the pandemic.
The ministry also reported 12,030 new coronavirus cases on Monday (down from 17,938 on Sunday), pushing the total number of confirmed infections to 675,109 in this country of about 60 million people.
Another 22,456 patients recovered on Monday (up from 16,270 on Sunday), bringing the total recoveries since the start of the pandemic to 1,115,617.
Of the positive cases, 644,249 are isolated at home with light or no symptoms, 27,765 are hospitalized with symptoms and 3,095 patients are in intensive care.
The overall number of infections, recoveries and fatalities since the pandemic began in this country has risen to 1,855,737, the Ministry of Health reported.
Of the overall current cases, the southern Campania region, whose capital is Naples, leads with 92,670 cases, while the northern Veneto region, whose capital is Venice, has the second highest number of cases at 92,528, according to the ministry. The northern Lombardy region, where the first cases were recorded in February, has 78,321 cases, the fourth among Italy's 20 regions.
In Italy's remaining regions, the number of confirmed cases ranges between 588 in the northern Valle d'Aosta region and 85,849 in the central Lazio region, whose capital is Rome.
NO MORE HIGH-RISK REGIONS
Also on Monday, Health Minister Roberto Speranza signed a new ordinance that designates Italy's 20 regions as either yellow (low risk) or orange (medium risk).
No regions are currently listed as red or high-risk zones with the toughest anti-COVID-19 restrictions in place, according to the ministry.
In a bid to contain the second wave of the pandemic, the government has earlier divided Italy into three color-coded areas -- yellow, orange and red -- with varying restrictions according to the level of transmission of the virus.
Yellow areas are at the lowest risk level and have fewer restrictions. Orange means "sustained and widespread transmission posing a risk to the national health system," and red means "uncontrolled transmission" stretching the national health system beyond capacity, according to the ministry.
The latest ordinance designates the regions of Basilicata, Calabria, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, Marche, Molise, Piedmont, the autonomous province of Trento, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily, Umbria, and Veneto as yellow.
The ordinance also includes the central Abruzzo region in the orange area along with the regions of Campania, Tuscany, Valle d'Aosta and the autonomous province of Bolzano.
TURNOVER LOSSES
Also on Monday, the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) reported that due to the pandemic, over two-thirds of Italy's businesses reported a drop in turnover in the June-October period of this year.
At least 32.4 percent of companies employing 21.1 percent of the currently employed Italians reported "operational and sustainability risks" to their business activities, according to the ISTAT report.
Meanwhile, 37.5 percent of companies have requested state assistance with cash flow and credit.
In the June-October period, 17.4 percent of businesses saw their online sales of goods and services almost double.
Another 25.8 percent of businesses employing 36.1 percent of Italy's employed workforce said they planned to expand production in spite of the crisis, ISTAT said.
"CLOSE RANKS"
Speaking at the Rome Investment Forum on Monday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called for the international community to "close ranks" in the battle against the coronavirus.
The Forum describes itself as "an international and authoritative symposium where the main topics for the European and Italian economy and finance are dealt with."
Conte said that "in 2020, after the two waves of the pandemic, the challenge we face is no longer just that of freeing up the unexpressed potential of our country.
"In this new phase a double task awaits us, and it relates no longer just to Italy but to Europe as a whole... and to the entire international community," Conte said.
"In the first place, right now, we must close ranks to conquer the invisible enemy that is still among us," he said in reference to the new coronavirus.
"This battle requires ... loyal collaboration between all institutional levels of states (and) a solid international cooperation to help each other to stem the circulation of the virus and plan an efficient distribution of the vaccines... in 2021," he said.
Italy declared a national state of emergency on Jan. 31 this year and has extended it to Jan. 31, 2021.
As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, countries including Germany, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States are racing to find a vaccine. Some countries have already authorized the emergency use of certain vaccines. Enditem